femme fatales fall in love
by fayechamberboobs
Summary: A series of drabbles and ficlets based on prompts for the pairing Kali x Jennifer (or Julia). Prompts accepted via askbox on my tumblr, juliabaccaris.
1. in the shade of poison trees

Prompt: Kali dealing with the aftermath of "killing" Julia.

Kali has never been good at impulse control, even at the best of times. Which is why walking away from Julia is the most difficult thing she thinks she's ever done.

Her impulse is not, as it should be, to finish her off. To do as Deucalion told her she must.

Kali has always wanted power, craved it as instinctually as a babe craves the comfort of its mother. She'd known she was meant to be an alpha from the moment pack dynamics were explained to her as a child. But she'd been born into a traditionally patriarchal line of wolves and none saw her as strong enough to lead them. The only way to overcome that was to become_ feared_, not loved.

But Julia has always loved her and never feared her and Kali should hate that but she doesn't. Didn't.

It is against her own will but Kali's first instinct as she looks back upon Julia's prone body, listening to the baby-bird flutter of her struggling heart, is to _save her. _

To save the one person who loves her.

She closes her eyes tightly, turns away, and walks on.

She knows she cannot appear like she needs comfort to her new pack. She cannot appear weak, because what is she then? Being an alpha – being _strong _- is all Kali has left. Deucalion mocks her, presumes she's joined his side for Ennis, but he is wrong.

Ennis is her friend. She admires him, and he respects her. It is not that kind of love.

But even with Ennis she must pretend she's okay. She's not sure he's okay, either, after losing his whole pack – Ennis always loved his pack members like they were his children – but she can't ask him. And he doesn't ask her.

She cries only once.

It is two weeks later, on the morning after a full moon night. She wakes up blissfully alone in the woods. For a moment sleep still holds her and she is blissfully ignorant of any emotion, and then she looks up and she is in the shelter of an oak tree.

That's all it takes. She is sure her heart is actually, physically breaking. Helpless, Kali gives herself over to the pain and the guilt. And in the early light of morning Kali gives herself permission to fall apart as she has never done before. (It had been Julia's favorite time of day, dawn, and she'd always looked so pretty waking up in that warm splash of sunlight and – _no no no_).

She lets herself be weak, because without Julia, that's what she is.

She gives herself one last moment to mourn her. It's less than what her emissary deserves, but it is all Kali can do now. The others will find her soon enough. She picks herself up off the ground and grits her teeth and starts walking. Walking away from the memory of Julia now feels almost as hard as it was the first time.

Kali begins to feel like a machine made of cold steel, and over time Deucalion cultivates and enforces that feeling in her. He uses her like a tool; Kali the efficient instrument for killing and intimidation. But she is clearly nothing more to him and she is also the one thing she never wanted to be: _subordinate_. She feels caged inside herself. It is easier to handle when she is what they all expect: ruthless, violent, and unrepentant. A murderer.

Sometimes the person Kali was before – the person she really is - grows so quiet in her cage inside Kali's body that she stops thinking of Julia. These are the most blissful moments of Kali's life now. The moments when she feels nothing.

Nothing at all.


	2. rose wine

Prompt: Kali x Julia Girl's Night

Kali's pack has entirely too much testosterone sometimes. Werewolves do tend to be mostly male (at least bitten ones). Something about the animal aggression and raw, reckless lifestyle seems to attract them. They think they are the strong ones.

Kali proves them wrong, of course. She is as aggressive as any of them, but ten times more ruthless and twenty times cleverer. And her touch of feminine grace…it is beautiful to watch. Julia feels honored to be a part of it.

She also feels exhausted after a long week of interacting with Kali's pack members. They are, on the whole, a pushy and overbearing bunch. Some of them mean well. Most even mean to flatter Julia with their lustful gazes and flirtatious words. At least they don't touch her anymore. Last time that happened one of them spent a week growing back the chunk of flesh Kali had ripped from their side.

Julia doesn't hate them. But she needs a break. She buys a bottle of white zinfandel and bakes cupcakes in her apartment (Kali's favorite flavor – chai spice and cream cheese frosting). She sends a simple text: _7 o clock. No boys allowed. Xoxo J._

Kali does not disappoint: she is there at 6:59 with Italian takeout and some easy-watching chick flick (not normally her style, but she knows Julia likes it). She also brings Julia something wrapped up in a red box with a silky bow, and forbids her from opening it until later.

"It's not my birthday." Julia chastises, but accepts the box with a huge grin. She sets it down on her bed for later, unable to stop smiling. She loves it when her alpha flatters her like this.

"If I never see another boy again as long as I live, I shall be as happy as a clam." Julia later declares dramatically as they sit on her couch together. Kali rolls her eyes, but smirks, picking up the tv remote.

"Unless it's James Marsden, right?" She teases, settling her feet on the coffee table and relaxing back into her couch. Some people hate it when Kali brandishes her feet everyone, but to Julia, her home is Kali's. And every part of her is beautiful.

She laughs and settles against Kali's side, already a little tipsy on the wine. "I prefer your company, you know." She admits, her head falling to rest on the alpha's shoulder. Kali smiles a very soft smile, knowing Julia can't see it.

They watch the movie mostly in a comfortable silence, pressed together as if personal space means nothing to them, slowly finishing off the bottle of wine. Kali cannot really get drunk thanks to her accelerated healing powers, but she loves watching Julia descend into a giddy and super affectionate state.

"You're so pretty." She says, as the credits roll. Her tone is warm, but not slurred. She's not that drunk but Julia is leaning more heavily into Kali than she was when the movie started. "Prettier than that girl."

Kali laughs, "Thank you darling. You're very pretty too."

"Do you think so?" Julia's lips curl up in an adorably genuine way, and Kali nods, reaching over to brush the hair from her emissary's eyes.

"I like it better when you say it." The druid says. "Not your boys."

"I'll tell them to leave you alone."

"Don't worry about it." Julia smiles. "It doesn't really bother me. I know what most werewolves are like."

Kali nods. "Are you ready for your present?"

Julia beams. It would be a childish expression if she weren't so insanely gorgeous. She bounces up from the couch (impressively keeping her balance) and takes Kali's hand, leading her into the bedroom where her gift awaits.

She delicately removes the ribbon and opens the box, savoring the anticipation. When she sees what's inside, Julia's cheeks flush prettily and she looks up at Kali, both surprised and pleased.

"Really Kali? Lingerie?"

Kali smirks.

"Well, you're the one who bought wine." She leans in, close enough for their noses to touch. "And I know how you get when you're tipsy."

Julia smirks back and grips the front of her shirt, hauling her in for the kiss.


	3. i could not stop for death

Prompt: Kali has captured Jennifer and is ready to kill her. But can she?

"So Deucalion gave the job to you." Jennifer's tone is mocking. She sits very relaxed, as if she weren't chained up to a beam in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. She looks comfortable and slightly predatory, as though she were sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere, picking out who she might like to have for supper.

Kali doesn't respond, just walks silently and slowly towards her holding a small tin cup. She schools her features into a blank mask.

"I suppose he's told you that you need to make amends for not killing me in the first place." Jennifer sighs, sounding bored. She's frustratingly casual about it all. Kali grits her teeth.

"What did your _Demon Wolf _do to you when he found out I was alive?" The druid's dark red lips give a small twitch upwards: the shadow of a smirk. Then she sneers, "Did he strike you like a bad puppy? Rolled up newspaper and all?"

Kali's hand trembles, just a hint. She's furious at herself for letting Ju – Jennifer get under her skin. The woman before her shouldn't even exist. Jennifer Blake is nothing to Kali but an anomaly caused by a weakness she shed years ago.

She tells herself that anyway.

"Actually," Kali says slowly, carefully. "He wanted to kill you himself." She crouches down in front of Jennifer and brings their gazes level. The druid is still smirking. When she's like this she almost looks nothing like Julia at all. It is easier on Kali. "But I insisted."

"Did you?" Jennifer raises an eyebrow, sounding like she is faking polite curiosity. "That's nice. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you back at the hospital. I really thought you'd land from that more gracefully. I heard the thump."

Kali growls.

"You were always so elegant when I knew you." Her captive continues. "But now look at you."

"More powerful than ever." Kali can't help but say, like a defensive schoolgirl.

"No," Jennifer disagrees, and for the first time since she was caught, there's a flicker of something – else – in those blue eyes. Something too much like sadness. "No, more lost than ever. More alone."

"I don't need you." Kali tells her viciously. She understands Jennifer's implication: _without me you are a train rolling off track. Without me, you have no one to help you_. Kali always used to call Julia her northern star. The light upon which she relied to guide her home.

She regrets that now. It's not like she can swear she never said any of it. It's not like she can pretend she was lying when she'd told Julia that she needed her, wanted her, _loved_ her. And now it is ammunition for the darach to use against her.

But Jennifer surprises her when instead of mocking her, she turns her head away and breaks their gaze.

After a moment, she speaks again. "Well, what's that, then? Have you brought the prisoner a drink?" Her tone is sarcastic, a bit frustrated.

Kali smiles.

"Oh, this?" She holds up the cup and shakes it. A puff of brown dust is released and it makes Jennifer cough once, hard. "No, honey. This is pure mistletoe."

She watches Jennifer struggle to keep her poise. She does fairly well – but Kali can hear her the erratic thumps of her heart.

"Are you listening in?" The brunette snaps, and returns her gaze to Kali's. There is fire in her expression again. "Awfully obsessed with my heartbeat, don't you think?"

Kali falters for a moment. "Sure," She answers spitefully, once she's recovered. "_Awfully_ cute how it flutters like a butterfly around Derek. Guess you have a thing for alphas, huh?" She leans in close, her left hand curling around the other woman's shoulder. "Where is your little alpha boyfriend now, _Jennifer_? I suppose he's not so interested in saving you know that he knows where you've been. No one wants the _leftovers._"

Jennifer's eyes blaze with fury, and for the first time she struggles wildly against her chains, launching herself towards Kali. "You did this to me!"She rages, and Kali jumps back despite herself when the woman before her reveals a flash of raw, torn open skin and ghost-white eyes. It lasts only a moment. "You ruined me." Jennifer settles back, contempt etched onto every feature. She's breathing a bit harder and Kali determinedly avoids look at the rise and fall of her chest.

She cannot deny the accusation.

"So finish it." Jennifer bites out after a stretch of painful silence. "I'm over our little chat. Finish it – if you can."

Kali presses her lips tightly together. Sets the cup down on the floor. The plan was to force-feed the darach the poison, and let the sickness consume her. It doesn't seem appropriate, now. She flexes her hand, lets the claws emerge.

Jennifer bares her throat to her, unafraid. "I'm glad to see you're not taking the coward's way out again." She says, barely glancing at the mistletoe. She'd guessed Kali's intentions without missing a beat. "This time you actually have to watch me die."

"Yes." Kali says, not without regret. She lifts her hand, hovers it at Jennifer's neckline. "I do."

Jennifer's expression softens just a fraction. "That's all I wanted."

Kali stops.

And then –

In the moment before her death, Jennifer Blake fades away and there is Kali's Julia: sweet and understanding, proud and whip-smart, loving and loyal to a fault. She is there before Kali with warm blood running down her throat and her heartbeat getting slower, and this time there is no salvation. The dying Julia is less than a foot from Kali, and her eyes say it all:

_You are not forgiven._

Kali screams.


	4. and after all this time

Prompt: Kali's reactions to seeing Julia/Jennifer in the hospital.

She wishes more than anything that she hadn't been right. That it hadn't been Julia.

But it could hardly have been anyone else.

Maybe this is what she deserves, after what she's done. She got greedy and hurt the one she'd loved most. Left her in favor of Ennis and power.

Now Ennis was gone and her grip on power so tentative, almost a façade when she considers how under Deucalion's thumb she really is.

Even though she's been trying to mentally prepare herself for the possibility, the sight of Julia is a shock. It's not exactly Julia, of course. She calls herself Jennifer Blake and her face is…different, but there's enough of a shadow of the girl she knew that it's painful.

Especially considering she's hanging onto that miserable excuse for an alpha, Derek Hale. Hiding behind him like she's not _better _than him. Like she doesn't belong to – with – Kali.

It makes her furious.

Julia – Jennifer – is more terribly beautiful than ever before. Her newfound power is obvious in the cast of her expression, in her posture, in way the air feels around her. Or maybe that's just Kali's heart in throat. Kali's not sure why Jennifer's even with Derek and his band of teenagers. She's afraid of Deucalion, Kali understands that, but there's a piece of the female alpha that longs to be the one protecting Jennifer.

It's absurd. She's the one who nearly killed her.

It's her fault this is happening.

So she doesn't try as hard as she should to take Jennifer out. Deucalion notices, but Kali can't help it. She wasn't able to kill her before, what makes him think she'll be able to do it now?

"_I loved her."_

Kali uses the past tense. But she doesn't quite convince herself.


	5. my clarity

Prompt: Kali asking Julia's advice + a love confession.

Kali settles into Julia's armchair by the window, draping her legs over the side of it and lays her face in the sunlight, curled up like a cat. She sighs.

"I'm not sure I should meet with them." She says, and glances over at Julia. Her emissary is carrying a tray with what looks like a full tea service into the living room. She sets it down on the coffee table and purses her lips, clearly deep in thought. Julia always prefers to stand when they're dealing with pack issues – she likes to pace – but Kali likes to sit and watch her. Julia is fascinating when she's thinking really hard. She bites her lower lip and twirls dark curls around her fingers, and the way her eyes light up when she finds a solution…

Ugh, it's really getting disgusting how in love with her emissary she is. She's pretty sure Julia has no idea, either. She's all sweet smiles and wise words and kind eyes as usual. Kali is frustrated.

It's not really _done, _an alpha hooking up with an emissary. Normally an alpha would choose one or more betas in their pack – and sometimes only for a fling, for the proliferation of the pack. Werewolf dynamics were more relaxed. No one minded whether your chosen lover was a man or a woman if you were a beta, but if you were an alpha it was expected that your main partner would be able to give you children.

Kali's pack would probably not mind her hooking up with Julia if sex were all it was. But it couldn't be like that with Julia. She's the kind of girl you give your world to – the kind of girl who makes everyone else disappear. It's not that Kali or the emissary herself is against casual sex, but Kali could not be with her for only a night. She wants to be with her forever.

"You should go to the meeting." Julia says, pulling Kali from her thoughts. She's walked over to the window, casting a long shadow on the floor in the fading sunlight. "It's an opportunity for peace."

"Do you really think that'll happen?" Kali asks skeptically. She arches an eyebrow.

"No." Julia replies, honest as always, shaking her head. "Not really. But I hope they prove me wrong."

"Who?" Kali is curious: does Julia think it's the wolves that can't keep their promise, or the hunters?

Julia smiles. "The Argents." She walks over to Kali, stopping at her side. She sits down on the chair's free arm. "What, do you think I don't trust you?"

"I think you know how violent and unpredictable we can be." Kali points out, and straightens up in the chair. She collects her body and turns to face Julia.

"So can they." Julia reminds her, lays her hand gently on Kali's shoulder. A friendly touch. "It doesn't mean it's not worth trying to change."

Kali throws her another skeptical look, but the earnest expression on her emissary's face causes her to soften.

"Okay, I'll give them a chance. _One_ chance." She says, and Julia's grin is reward enough. Kali looks at her in quiet for a moment. And then, out of nowhere, Julia takes Kali's chin in her hand and bends down to meet her lips in a gentle kiss.

She's too shocked to do anything before the other woman pulls back, a very satisfied look on her face.

"Julia, I –"

"Kali," Her emissary cuts her off. "I'm not stupid. I see the way you look at me. What I don't see is how you've missed the fact that I love you. I should have thought I made it obvious." She grins, standing. Julia turns back towards the kitchen, walking away more gracefully in heels than anyone should after confessing their love to an alpha werewolf.

"And you can pick me up at 7 Friday." She calls from the kitchen. "I expect to be wooed!"


End file.
